Knicks' Thomas has it easy compared to Sixers GM King

SCHULER

February 08, 2004|By Jeff Schuler Of The Morning Call

The blueprint for what many 76ers fans want Billy King to do can be found about 100 miles north up the New Jersey Turnpike.

In a few short months since being given keys to the Knicks' executive washroom, Isiah Thomas has managed to completely revamp a franchise that appeared to be drifting toward the NBA lottery for the fourth straight year, and one without hope of sliding under the salary cap for generations to come.

But Thomas landed in an almost perfect situation for such a makeover. He has the backing of a franchise whose financial philosophy is "We've never met a contract we don't like," since owner Jim Dolan seems perfectly happy to continue signing checks covering not only the team's nine-figure payroll, but also the huge luxury tax bill that comes with it.

Thomas also had a prime trade commodity, a broken-down Antonio McDyess in the final year of his huge contract. So all Thomas had to do was find another floundering team -- one close enough to the cap that the right move could make them a player in the free-agent sweepstakes -- with something of value to the Knicks, and the makings of a deal was in place.

Enter Phoenix, and native New Yorker Stephon Marbury.

Before Thomas' arrival, the best the Knicks could hope for was to maybe sneak into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Now, with the arrival of Marbury and new coach Lenny Wilkens, Thomas has managed to transform the team into one that, after Friday's game, had moved up to seventh in the conference standings, just a game behind sixth-place Toronto and only four games out of the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Meanwhile, King, the Sixers' general manager, has none of those advantages. While the Sixers are also over the cap, Comcast-Spectacor and Ed Snider aren't about to sign any blank checks to cover an increased luxury tax bill.

The Sixers also have no McDyess-style contract about to expire to use as bait. The only players on the current roster unsigned for next season are Amal McCaskill, Zendon Hamilton, Kyle Korver and Willie Green. Between them, they don't even make as much as Greg Buckner.

There has been interest in rookies Korver and Green, along with third-year center Samuel Dalembert, but King has steadfastly maintained that he'd be extremely reluctant to deal the Sixers' young talent.

There have also been teams inquiring about Eric Snow, and the point guard is probably the most likely to go if the right deal comes along. Snow was the ideal floor general in former coach Larry Brown's system, which relied on half-court sets and taking care of the ball. But new coach Randy Ayers favors a more up-tempo offense, and it's obvious Snow doesn't fit well in that system.

There are teams in search of a point guard, including Houston, which reportedly would like to move Steve Francis off the point. But, again, Snow has a contract that escalates from $4.5 million this year to $7.3 million when it expires in 2008-09, when he will be 35.

It would also be tough to move Kenny Thomas, who signed a seven-year, $50.7-million extension over the summer that lasts until 2009-10. There probably is interest in the 6-7 forward, who is among the league's rebounding leaders at 9.6 per game, but since Thomas' salary rose more than 120 percent this season, he qualifies as a base-year player, which means in a trade the Sixers can take back just half of his reported $5.5-million contract while the team on the other end must have room under the cap for the entire amount. And Ayers has said that the 26-year-old Thomas, along with 28-year-old Marc Jackson, fits his definition of "young talent" he wants to develop.

And Sixer fans who yearn to see Allen Iverson dealt can forget it. Like him or not, Iverson is the reason the Sixers are among the league's top five in both home and road attendance, and among the league leaders in merchandise revenue, and Comcast-Spectacor would like to keep it that way. And even if they deal their marquee talent, past history says they don't do a very good job of it (see Wilt Chamberlain, 1968; Moses Malone, 1986; and Charles Barkley, 1992).

King is willing to deal, but he has also said he's not about to scrap the future in exchange for a few extra wins now. So, the Sixers approach the Feb. 19 trading deadline with one hand tied behind their back.

Can't get you out of my mind: Larry Brown's visit to the Sixers' practice facility on Wednesday might have been "nothing out of the ordinary," as Ayers put it, but you have to question the timing, especially in the wake of Iverson's "heart" message the previous night.

Why give the fans, many of whom feel betrayed by Brown's abrupt departure last Memorial Day, more talk-show fodder?

Brown's visit, which coincided with a trip back to the city to see his family, didn't faze Joe Dumars, Brown's new boss in Detroit.

"I know Larry has a great relationship with a lot of people in the Philly organization," Dumars told the Detroit News. "It's a nonissue for us."